Bohally Intermediate School, 50th Jubilee.

Bohally Intermediate School 50th Jubilee Reunion.
1956 -2006
School days are said to be the best days of our lives; I have always had trouble reoncilling this to my school days, except for the two years I spent at Bohally Intermediate School.
I was among 116 other young 11 year olds who were the foundation intake of students when the school openned in 1956.
Bohally Intermediate School was the very first Intermediate School in New Zealand, built to cope with all the 'baby-boomer' students.
I was in Mr Dixon's class for Form 1 and Mr Petrie's class for form 2. Classes were large at that time with about 35 mixed sex students in each class room.
On the first day of School when I stepped into our brand new classroom I said to fellow students " I shall return here in 50 years time - If I am still alive, for the 50th Jubilee." And I did!
There were only 38 as far as I know of the first year students at the reunion, plus ofcause thousands of students from all the later years, but we the 'first years' were the important ones. We sat at the two top tables for the big Banquet, and had our Photos taken first all that sort of thing.
We also had a packed school lunch given to us all to eat in the school lunchtime. All of us wanted to take it out and eat it by the old creek that featured in all our old memories, but the old creek no longer exisited, it had been piped and filled in completely - for safety I guess, as we were always falling into it or being pushed!
After the lunch we were photographed in year lots then given a guided tour of the school as it is now. Such a huge differance to the brand new buildings set in a ploughed paddock with just a large block of concrete to hold assemblies on every morning and a strip in front of class rooms to play on. Now there are many new buildings with all modern learning equipment. After the girls had showed me the school I took them to see where the old creek used to be, and showed them how we used to run over and jump over the water, I demonstrated this! Jumped onto a patch of fallen leaves that had come from an old oak tree, that completely covered a hole, which I jumped into, fell over and broke my leg!
So that is how I broke my leg jumping over an imaginary creek!
I was then taken to hospital for xrays.Fortunately only my Fibula not the main tibia or femir bone in my leg so I didn't require plaster just bandaging, as long as I used a wheelchair to rest my leg.
I ended up attending the big banquet in a wheel chair, my friend Judith is in wheelchair so we sat one at each end of the big top table.
Still a very enjoyable evening.